Archive By Section - Local Columns
When you see a ‘proud parent’ sticker, offer thanks
I drove to Lodi Saturday without having to go through government checkpoints. I can thank a Marine. My granddaughter is free to go to school and she'll be able to vote and enjoy the full rights of all male citizens. I can thank a soldier. I pray as I chose. I can thank an airman. My neighbors and I can access a wide range of consumer goods thanks to the un-interruption of trade between nations. ...
Destroying the San Joaquin Valley in order to save it
Passing gas could one day become a criminal act. It sounds absurd but who would have thought cows doing what they do naturally would become a major target of the air quality cops. Methane gas is basically organic material breaking down. It is also a greenhouse gas that is over 20 times more effective trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. It also stays in the atmosphere for anywhere from nine to 15 years. ...
Sacramento ready to flush state’s future down toilet
Thank goodness the current California Legislature wasn't around during the Great Depression.
LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE DISTRICTS
There still appears to be some confusion about the facts concerning the City assuming responsibility for the Landscape Maintenance Districts (LMD). The intent of this blog is to provide clarity to some of the points made in the opinion column in Thursday's Manteca Bulletin.
Political quicksand in form of landscape maintenance districts
Four different contractors deploy at least a dozen people in any given week to work on the 30-plus landscape maintenance district (LMD) that cost homeowners collectively close to $1 million a year.
A modest proposal to save California
The party's over. It's time to detox California government. The only way to do that is to stop the dependency by reeling in the pushers and making the addicts go cold turkey. The pushers – your friendly neighborhood legislator who entices you with grants and funding in exchange for your vote every two or four years – need to be severely restricted. The only way to do that is to dilute their power. And ...
Digital TV: Clearing up fuzzy stuff
My retail days seemed like a lifetime ago. In the final years at Montgomery Ward some nine years ago – after over 100 years in business, the national retail chain closed in early 2001 – I worked in the electronics department of the Stockton store. At the time, we were embarking on the digital era, with only the savvy consumer being aware that the analog television sets would soon become passé. But as sales associates, ...
From spoonfuls of sugar to fruits, vegetables & nuts
What a difference 45 years make. Back then breakfast for me was non-existent except on Saturday mornings. It was The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Quick Draw McDraw, a couple bowls of Frosted Flakes, and about a dozen or so straight spoonfuls of sugar Now it's breakfast every day – an orange, an apple, a banana, a quarter of a watermelon, three yogurts, and a third of a can of almonds all washed down by V8 Fusion ...
Don’t blame illegals for state budget mess
Are the illegal residents washing dishes in a restaurant or picking fruit the root of all evil when it comes to California's economic maladies?
California needs a total recall of Sacramento
I'm not a huge fan of recalls but given the fact no one up in Sacramento really got the message May 19 I'm in favor of a total recall.
Why Republicans should like Jerry Brown as governor
Jerry Brown was right. Thirty-one years ago when Brown ended his second term as governor of California he not only had reduced taxes but had built up the largest state surplus ever. On his watch, California created 1 out of every 4 new jobs in the nation. He also was the trailblazer for building and energy appliance standards as well as solar and alternative energy. How did Brown do it? Simple. He refused to spend ...
Missing the boat in the letter tug-of-war
Reading the endless back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats in these pages is often good for a few minutes of low-cost entertainment.
The high cost of celebrating our liberty
The price of liberty is high. And celebrating it isn't much cheaper either. Manteca's decision to shift the Fourth of July celebration to July 3 is being met with a growing storm of criticism running the gamut from it being borderline sacrilegious to downright unpatriotic. It is easy to understand the public sentiment. In a way, though, this is a good thing. Some 233 years after our forefathers declared their independence from rulers that taxed ...
‘Old Man River’ versus a ‘Younger Girl’
"Hotel California" was playing on the Escape's CD stereo as I turned down Yosemite Avenue headed for Staples Sunday with my 16-year-old granddaughter Ashley riding shotgun.
The unfairness of de facto boarding houses
Manteca creates neighborhoods designed for single family homes. You buy a home in such a neighborhood with the expectation that they will be used as a home for one family or an extended family. Then one day a home sells. Within a few days five different couples or individuals move in. What's going on? Some believe an investor may have bought the home and has converted it into a boarding house. In this example – ...
Articles by Section - Local Columns
A virtually empty garage may be un-American by today’s standards
I'm a prime candidate for the Homeland Security watch list.
Apple isn’t rotten but the American taxing system is
Why does Uncle Sam insist on subsidizing rich people?
Twin Tunnels: Get ready for Owens Valley 2.0
Want to see the future of the Northern San Joaquin Valley?
Traffic officer: Toughest job in Manteca?
The toughest job in Manteca might just be the men who are part of the Manteca Police Department's traffic enforcement unit.
The winds have changed at 1001 W. Center St.
The City of Manteca has a new unofficial municipal motto: "This is the new norm."
7,000 crosses turn Woodward Park into hallowed ground
God and country.
Gang of eight betrays Americans
The Gang of Eight immigration bill can be summed up as amnesty now, border closing never. The Department of Homeland Security is not required to build a fence (which was ordered by the Secure Fence Act signed by President George W. Bush). DHS is required only to submit a plan.
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